The Battle of a Lifetime
by Phunk Sisters
Summary: Mao is just your average girl. She's 22, got Shikamaru, her boyfriend, and a nice house in the Sand Village. Oh! Did I mention that she's also a ninja, and, along with her friends, in the toughest battle that she's ever known? So much for ordinary, Huh?
1. Chapter 1: A Hopeless Battle

**Author's note :** _Sorry for starting this off right in the middle of the action, but this story was originally intended simply for my friends, who already know most of the details of the characters. So, to clear things up a little bit, this is 7 years after the end of the Naruto series, and all of the characters are in their mid-twenties. If you find yourself confused, you might want to read our profile and check out some of the links on there. Anyway, enjoy the story!__

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It was chaos. The fight going on around me was the worst I had seen in all my days as a ninja. And it was all being caused by one man. Kuragari. After the death of Orochimaru, this man had used all of that horrid snake's evil research and used it to turn himself into an invincible monster. Even I, Shikamaru, and all of my friends could barely handle him.

"Mao! Look out!" shouted Koyubi, pointing desperately behind me.

I turned just in time to see a mass of kunai flying towards me. I quickly noted the small paper tied to the end of each blade. That had to be an exploding note, which meant that I couldn't dodge them without causing setting fire to the trees in the forest behind me. In a blur, I threw a large shuriken at them, storing the power of wind into it so that it sent a powerful gust into the mass, launching them back to hit the beast that they came from. That was my power; the control of different elemental chakra, which I could only release after storing it into an item. Of course, it's not like my counter-attack did any damage at all, even though a racking explosion reverberated off his armor-like skin.

I took a good look at our opponent. He was truly a monster, a demon from the pits of hell itself. His skin was black, looking as though it were made of rock. He had four arms. One was a cannon, made to shoot any type of ninja projectile that you could want, while another had a large sword blade stretching out of his arm where his hand should have been. This blade could stretch to about thirty yards in length, twisting sideways like a snake, giving itself more room to maneuver. The last two arms were as normal as one could get, being made of some invincible material, and had a small hole them from which came large chakra fireballs that could be shot at enemies. But the arms weren't what scared me the most. Nor was it his impossibly muscled legs, nor his mouth full of sharp, razor-like teeth. No, it was his eyes. They had an unmistakable lust for blood in them, a look that told me that he had killed many before, and would do anything to kill again.

The funny thing was that I wasn't afraid for my own life. If I was afraid of death, I wouldn't have taken this job as a ninja. I was afraid for my friends. They were like family to me, my sisters and brothers, and I couldn't bear to lose any of them. Especially Shikamaru. I glanced over at my boyfriend. The dark eyes that I loved so much met mine for a second, as he looked up at me, his lips molding into a reassuring smile. I let myself be swept away into the depth of his eyes for a quick second, allowing my mind drift away from the battle to happier times.

Then, I quickly shook my head, clearing my mind. I couldn't be caught of guard in this battle. No matter what, I couldn't let any of these people fighting around me die, and I had to stay around to make sure of that. It wasn't that they couldn't fight for themselves. We were the most powerful team in Suna, and together, we could conquer anything. At least that's what I had believed before I met this thing. I would call it a "him," but it wasn't human anymore. The Kuragari that we had fought just a few hours ago was no more. In his place was a monster.

Needles started flying at me, pulling me completely out of my daze. I dodged quickly, jumping over to the edge of the clearing. I surveyed the fight, trying to see how everything was going. Wakana, Sana, Kami, and Sasuke were all working to handle the fireballs that were shooting everywhere and threatening to start a forest fire. Wakana was singing quickly, using her power of song to levitate the balls into a large blazing heap in the air above the clearing. Sana, Kami, and Sasuke were destroying them, using wind to break them down until they could no longer burn.

Koyubi, Kiba, Mimi, and Kibasa were all fighting the sword arm, forcing it back whenever it got too long. Mimi was clawing, catlike at the beast, while Kiba, and his cousin, Kibasa, were halfway transformed into dogs, and Koyubi's long, slender arms were stretched to whack anything that got too close. This left Shikamaru and I to handle the missiles. We drove them continuously back at the beast, protecting everyone else from their wrath.

All in all, we had a good system going, working to tire out our opponent and find his weak point. There was just one problem with it. Our opponent wasn't tiring, and he didn't seem to have a weak point. He had an endless amount of energy and no attack was effective on him. He even had a plate in his head that prevented genjutsu, and his chakra level was incredibly high to point where even Shikamaru's shadow technique was brushed off as though it were nothing. And no element could even faze him. We, on the other hand, were tiring, running out of chakra, and quickly too.

"This is hopeless," murmured Shikamaru to me, in between missile firings. "We're getting nowhere." He raised his voice. "Everyone! We need to fall back! We'll split up! Stay in the groups you're in now! We'll meet in the western clearing, the one with the waterfall, alright?"

Everyone nodded. For a second, I wondered why he just yelled out our plan right in front of the monster. Then I remembered. The monster was past remembering how to understand the words of humans. He couldn't even understand his own former name.

"Let's go!" shouted Shikamaru. And we all ran out into the forest.

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Like it so far? Please review, but no flaming...


	2. Chapter 2: A Quick Moment

I followed a few steps behind Shikamaru, jumping from branch to branch as we made our way across the forest. This was our one advantage over that creature. Our speed. We would arrive in the clearing with a good ten minutes before him. So why didn't we try to outrun him? Simple, he would continue to track us relentlessly, and when we stopped, (which would happen eventually for one reason or another) he would catch up to us, as he would never have reason to stop. He fed only off of death. At least for the moment we were safe. And I was with Shikamaru.

After a few minutes, we came up to the clearing. But a few yards away from the edge, Shikamaru stopped. I landed next to him, puzzled.

"What is it?" I asked, sounding a bit worried.

He didn't respond. He simply placed his hand on my cheek and looked into my eyes. I quickly realized what he was doing and gazed up at him; memorizing his face as though I'd never see it again, which I probably wouldn't. I'm sure that's what he was doing as well. Then, slowly, he lowered his face and pressed his lips to mine. I fastened my hands around his neck as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him.

There was an urgent feel to the kiss, telling me more than could ever be described with words. After a few seconds, I pulled back, breathing hard, and lay my head on his chest. I imprinted everything about him into my brain; his feel, his warmth, and even his smell. Yes, this is what I wanted to be my last memory.

"I Love you" I murmured into his chest, the soft fabric of his vest moving against my cheek.

"And I you." He replied simply, stroking my hair.

We stood like that for a second longer, taking comfort in each other's presence. Then, we broke apart, and prepared ourselves to fight again.

"Alright, let's go," Shikamaru sighed, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

I gazed once more into his dark eyes, and then nodded my head. "Yeah, let's…" And we stepped into the clearing.

Everyone was waiting for us, tense, but they visibly relaxed as we approached.

"What took you guys so long?" steamed Sana, aggravated.

"We were slightly delayed…" replied Shikamaru vaguely. Koyubi nudged Sana and nodded towards me. A look of understanding crossed her face. Uh-oh. I felt my face, only just noticing that I was blushing. Stupid face. Just give it all away, why don't 'cha?

"But that's not important right now," continued Shikamaru, waving his hand dismissively. "Right now, this troublesome opponent of ours is what we need to focus on. We have about five minutes left before that thing gets here. Anyone have an idea on how to defeat that thing?"

"No clue," sighed Kibasa. "We've tried everything on that guy. He's totally invincible."

"Yeah really," added Mimi. "His skin repels everything…"

I could see everyone losing hope, deflating before my eyes. I myself knew that there was very little chance of winning, but I also knew that that little chance would dwindle down to nothing if we gave up. There had to be some way to attack him, some way to get through that armor/skin of his… I gazed up into the sky, deep in thought. The sun was just a few hours away from falling behind the horizon. It was beautiful, that big ball in the sky. I wished that I could see from its point of view, staring down at the earth like the eye of god… Wait! That's it, the eye! And who said daydreaming was worthless?

"Hey, I've got an idea!" I exclaimed, causing everyone to jump and look over towards me. "His eyes! They're small, but they're not protected by his skin! Maybe we could attack them!"

"But how would that work?" asked Kiba. "He could just close his eyelids and deflect whatever we threw at him."

"He's not that bright, you know." Not that you needed smarts as an invincible creature… "He'll probably just automatically open his eyes wide in surprise if we got close up and stabbed him."

"But what then?" asked Koyubi. "We'll just have a half blind monster running around on a rampage. One stab isn't going to kill him!"

"It will if I store lightning into it. The electrical current will fry his brain!" They still looked unsure. "Look, we have to do this. How else are we supposed to beat him?" Well, I had another idea, but I couldn't do it with everyone else fighting… This WAS the only way to beat him safely.

"I think that it's too dangerous," stated Shikamaru, crossing his arms. "You could be killed Mao!"

"Danger!? Shikamaru, we're ninjas, of course things are going to be dangerous! We have to be able to take chances here!" I retorted, my temper flaring.

"Alright." He sighed, unwilling to fight with me under the circumstances. "But I still don't like it."

"You don't have to like it! We have to do it anyway!" I paused, noticing the hurt look in his face. I sighed, calming down. "Look, I don't like much either, but we don't have much of a choice here. I have to do this, and you know it. Don't worry, I'll be fi-"

BANG! I was cut off by a large noise as a nearby tree was plowed down by something large. I'll give you one guess as to what it was…

"Alright, we'll do it," said Shikamaru, hurried. "Everyone, go to the same positions that you were in last time, alright? Except Kami and Mao. Kami, I'll need you to help with the projectiles in Mao's place. Mao, find a safe place to hide until I give you the signal to attack. Now go! Get into position!"

Everyone hurried off the get prepared for the attack. Shikamaru paused by me before going.

"Be careful… please…" he whispered into my ear. Then, he ran off to get into position.

I stared after him for a second, then turned slowly in a circle, surveying the clearing for a good spot to take shelter. There was a cliff that curved around half of the clearing opposite of where we had entered. On the far side, there was a waterfall right near the forest that fell into a small pool that flowed into a stream. That stream wound its way through the forest, and the nearest part had an area that was partially blocked form sight by a thin strip of trees. That looked perfect. I ran over to the stream and took a step onto it, using my charka to walk as if it was a solid surface. I positioned myself behind the trees so that I couldn't be seen, but could still see the battle clearly.

THUMP! THUMP! I waited, tense as the footsteps got louder and louder. Then, a large silhouette appeared in the shadows of the forest.


	3. Chapter 3: A New Strategy

The monster that was once Kuragari stepped out into the light. The sunlight glinted off of his armor-like skin as an evil grin spread across his face. I shiver of repulsion snaked down my spine. He spotted Mimi standing in the clearing and started stepping lopsidedly towards him, sword outstretched. Koyubi quickly deflected it, hitting it away from Mimi. The thing started on her then, completely distracted from his original objective, swatting at her as if she were just an annoying fly. As I said, not the brightest guy in the world.

The fight continued much like it had before, the time-wasting motions familiar now. But there was a difference. There was a new intensity to it, as if the hope of success, however small, was encouraging them to give it their all. The sword was being driven back farther, the fireballs winking out more quickly, and the projectiles were diverted almost as soon as they left the cannon. I marveled at how much more powerful my friends were now, compared to how they were fighting before. They had hope…

"Now, Mao!" shouted out Shikamaru, sending off a mass of shuriken.

I shook myself away from my thoughts. Time to go. I ran off of the stream that I was standing on and through the trees, weaving through to prevent collision. Then, I was out in the clearing, kunai ready in my hand. I timed my movements, waiting to strike when all of his arms were busy, then jumped, sending all of my lightning chakra into the kunai. My jump was perfect, heading straight towards his head, where I could plunge the kunai into his eye. He couldn't move his arms fast enough to block it. I was going to do it!

Then, I realized something that sent a huge weight down in my stomach. His eyes, which were initially black, were changing color, quickly becoming a dark shade of red, not unlike the color of blood. This couldn't be good…

When I was about five feet above him, lasers, yes lasers, shot out of his eyes, straight towards me. Really, was there anything that this guy couldn't do? Quickly, I moved my kunai in front of me, diverting the laser. Unfortunately, they didn't just bounce off like I'd hoped they would. The force of the collision sent me flying straight up into the air, then as gravity commanded, straight back down, five feet in front of the monster.

The angle of my fall prevented me from landing on my feet, and my breath was knocked out of me as I hit the ground. Hard. I looked upward; unable to move my body, and saw the eyes of the monster before me turn red once more. My eyes wide open in shock, I braced myself for the hit I knew would be my last.

I never felt it. At the last second, something blurred in front of me, taking the shot. I lay there, stunned, unsure of what had just happened. I glanced over to see what had saved my life, and my heart froze in horror. Sprawled on the ground, a few feet away, was Shikamaru.


	4. Chapter 4: Vengeance

I sat up and stared blankly at him, waiting for him to get up, smile at me, and rejoin the fight. But nothing happened. His body remained limp. I was vaguely aware of the battle still raging around me. My friends were distracting the monster, trying to protect me.

"Mao! Move!" shouted Wakana. "We can't hold it off!"

Hmm… Good idea. Just one problem, though. I _couldn't_ move. My whole body was frozen, my eyes locked on his face.

"We have to get out of here!" shouted Sasuke, taking control of the situation. "Okay Wakana? Get Mao. Kiba? Shikamaru. On three, I'm going to throw down a smoke screen. I want everyone to create a shadow clone of themselves and have them run into the woods where we came out. Then, all of us will jump up to the top of that cliff behind us, alright?"

Everyone nodded, and the next thing that I knew, I was draped over Wakana's shoulder in a fireman's carry, and we were headed up to the top of the cliff.

On the top, she tried to set me down on my feet, but I just collapsed onto the ground. Kiba came and laid Shikamaru in front of me. This couldn't be happening. This just couldn't be happening!

Sana, our medical ninja, sat down on the other side of him and put her hands a few inches above his chest.

A green glow appeared just a few inches beneath her fingers, a sign that she was attempting to heal him. After a few seconds, she stopped and put her hands in her lap. She shook her head hopelessly.

My whole body went numb. I stared down at his face, hoping, searching for any sign of life. But there was none. Shikamaru was gone. And it was all my fault. Surprisingly, I wasn't sad. I wasn't mad either. I wasn't… anything. It was as if the inside of my body had frozen over. I couldn't feel anything, couldn't think anything. I knew that the others were talking, trying to reassure me and comfort me, but I gave no response. Their words made no sense, nothing did.

Then one word snapped me back into reality. Vengeance. The others must be discussing battle tactics. Vengeance. Yes, this word made sense to me, gave me a reason to keep going. It was for me that Shikamaru had sacrificed himself, which meant that it was my duty to avenge him.

With this resolve, the emotions came flooding back. My head was suddenly full of conflicting feelings. Pain, anger, fear, sadness. But the strongest was the overwhelming sense of loss. My entire body was consumed with it, the pain of it eating away at me. I gasped at the intense pain, and hugged myself, reining it all back in to be released when I needed to use it's power. When I was finally in control of myself, I stood up. I glanced down at his face once more, gathering strength from his familiar features. I took a deep breath, and looked up into the surprised faces of my friends around me. I had a mission to complete.

Nobody spoke. They were probably shocked at my sudden action, as I had been unable to move until this point.

"I have a plan to fight this guy," I stated. I had thought of it earlier, but it was way too dangerous to do with everyone around. "Wakana? I'll need you to use your song/jutsu to make a shield around all of you guys. Can you do it?"

"Yeah, sure," she replied, tentatively. "But I'll need everyone to send their chakra into it to give it strength… Wait! All of _us_? What will _you_ be doing?"

"Something that I have to do," I stated. "Alone."

"Hey, who says that you can fight alone? We want to fight this thing too!" steamed Sana.

"Yes, why alone? We can help! Unless… Oh no Mao! You're not going to do _that_ jutsu. Are you?" Her eyes turned fearful at the thought. She had a fight to be afraid of it. I had almost killed her trying it out when I first discovered it. I nodded.

"Do you see the purpose of the shield now?"

"Yes, bu-"

Her sentence was cut off by a piercing shriek that erupted from the forest below. I winced and glanced over to the forest. The creature must have discovered our trickery. Judging by the loud thumps of his footsteps, he was back on track. Quickly, I turned back to Wakana.

"We're out of options here!" I exclaimed. "I have to do this. I also don't want anyone else to be hurt, so will you please just make the shield?" My last sentence was pleading.

"Alright," she conceded, and began to instruct everyone on how to send their chakra into the shield. This continued for a few seconds, and then she turned back to me.

"And Mao?" she asked, her purple eyes staring into mine. "Make sure to come back…"

I returned her gaze for a moment, and then turned to look at the figure at my feet.

"I will," I replied, softly.

Crack! The sound of a tree being torn in two echoed through the clearing. I stepped over to the edge of the cliff to look down. Sure enough, the insane creature was making its way loudly into the clearing. I felt a new surge of hate for this monster. If he had never shown up, we would still be back in the sand village, laughing and hanging out together. And he would still be here…

I bit back a few bitter tears, then turned around to gaze at my friends one last time. Sana, her golden hair blocking her face from sight as she leaned in towards Sasuke. Koyubi smiled tentatively at me from her place in Kiba's arms. Kibasa, Kami and Mimi gazed at me hopefully. And then at Wakana, who looked back at me from under her black hair, a bit sorrowful. I gave her a quick nod, which she returned with a sad smile.

Yes, I would do anything I could to come back. For all of them, my friends. And for him. I gained even more strength from this resolve. And I was determined. No one, not even this terrible demon could stop me now. I turned to face the clearing and heard Wakana start singing softly. I listened to the familiar voice for a few seconds, and then took a huge leap off of the cliff.


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